Texas files lawsuit against Biden admin over green card program

Texas green card lawsuit overview:

• Who: Texas and 15 other states filed a green card lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s new “Keeping Families Together” policy.
• Why: They claim the executive branch overstepped its authority by creating a blanket policy for certain noncitizens to remain in the country while they apply for a green card.
• Where: The green card lawsuit was filed in Texas federal court.

Sixteen states led by the state of Texas recently filed a green card lawsuit alleging the Biden administration’s new program allowing noncitizens and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for work permits and green cards within the country exceeds the administration’s parole authority.

The coalition of states includes Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming.

Texas lawsuit says state will be financially harmed by new policy

The Texas lawsuit alleges the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Keeping Families Together” program is an “end-run around the law” and exceeds the executive branch’s parole authority beyond what the Immigration and Nationality Act allows.

The Immigration and Nationality Act requires parole determinations to be decided on a case-by-case basis unless there is significant public benefit or pressing humanitarian issues justifying mass determinations, the Texas lawsuit alleges.

“DHS pays only lip service to the case-by-case requirement, devoting to it only 1.2% of the 5,283 words used to outline program eligibility and processing,” the green card lawsuit says.

“The message to DHS officers is obvious: they are expected to rubber-stamp all qualifying applications,” the plaintiff states argue, pointing to the eligibility requirements detailed in a recent Federal Register notice.

Texas claims it will be harmed financially because it will spend money for law enforcement and social services for noncitizens.

DHS launched the Keeping Families Together program on Aug. 19. Under the new program, noncitizens who entered the country illegally can apply for parole in place to protect them from deportation and allow them to seek work permits and apply for green cards.

The Keeping Families Together program clears some of the bureaucratic hurdles for noncitizens who enter the country illegally. Instead of requiring them to leave the country to apply for a green card, they would be able to stay in the country while they apply for a green card and seek work permits.

The Biden administration’s policy is targeted at noncitizens who have lived in the country for at least 10 years without a criminal history and who are legally married to U.S. citizens. The program also covers unauthorized stepchildren of U.S. citizens, Law360 explains.

A Texas federal judge recently blocked the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing its ban on noncompete agreements.

What do you think about this Texas lawsuit? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Texas is represented by Attorney General Ken Paxton and Ryan D. Walters, Kathleen T. Hunker and Garrett Greene with the Office of the Attorney General of Texas and Gene P. Hamilton, James Rogers and Ryan Giannetti of America First Legal Foundation. The other plaintiff states are represented by their attorneys general.

The Texas green card lawsuit is State of Texas, et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security, et al., Case No. 6:24-cv-00306, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

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